716 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 13
there is eternal time, which is called kala because it changes the shape of
everything in the material world. Even if we are able to do something tem-
porarily beneficial, time will see that the good project is frustrated in course
of time. The only thing which is possible to be done is to get rid of the
eternal time, kala, which is compared to kdla-sarpa, or the cobra snake
whose bite is always lethal. No one can be saved from the bite of a cobra.
The best remedy for getting out of the clutches of the cobralike kala or its
integrity, the modes of nature, is bhakti-yoga, as it is recommended in the
Bhagavad-gita (Bg. 14.26). The highest perfectional project of philanthropic
activities is to engage everyone in the act of preaching bhakti-yoga all over
the world because that alone can save the people from the control of maya
or the material nature represented by kala, karma and guna, as described
above. The Bhagavad-gita (Bg. 14.26) confirms this definitely.
TEXT 47
TEAM TETAS ATAATY |
KALA TT AEA Silat aay sae (V9
ahastani sa-hastanam
apadani catus-padam
phalguni tatra mahatam
vo jivasya jivanam
ahastani—those who are devoid of hands; sa-hastanam—of those who are
endowed with hands; apadani—those who are endowed with legs;
catuh-padam—of those who have four legs; phalgitni—those who are weak;
tatra—there; mahatam—of the powerful; jivah—the living being; jivasya—
of the living being; jivanam—subsistence.
TRANSLATION
Those who are devoid of hands are prey for those who have hands;
those devoid of legs are prey for the four-legged. The weak are the
subsistence of the strong, and the general rule holds that one living being
is food for another.
PURPORT
A systematic law of subsistence in the struggle for existence is there by
the supreme will, and there is no escape for anyone by any amount of
planning. The living beings who have come to the material world against
the will of the Supreme Being are under the control of a supreme power
called maya-sakti, the deputed agent of the Lord, and this daivi maya is
